Some People Are the Exception
by thisfairytalegonebad
Summary: Shiro is running late, so Adam picks Keith up instead. [Keith & Adam bonding]


**Written for day 14 of Keith's Genuary event on Tumblr. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Keith," a vaguely familiar voice called from across the Garrison parking lot. A voice that was definitely not Shiro's, who was supposed to pick Keith up for the weekend today.

"Keith, hey!"

Keith scanned the parking lot until he caught sight of the person who called out for him.

Adam.

He'd met Adam before, once when Shiro had introduced them, and a second time when Shiro had forgotten his briefcase at home and Adam dropped it off at the simulators where Shiro was letting Keith fly, and Adam had been nothing but cordial on both occasions. Keith wasn't one to trust easily; it had taken him ages to warm up to Shiro, and he certainly didn't _trust_ Adam yet, but… Adam had the potential to be trusted, at least. Truth be told, Keith probably wouldn't make an effort to 'bond' with Adam, as Shiro always put it when he tried to get Keith to make friends, if Shiro hadn't looked so damn _happy_ with Adam. For Shiro, Keith would do anything, and that included getting along with people.

...he had to admit, Adam made it pretty easy for Keith to like him.

Still, why was Adam here now? He was looking for Keith, apparently, but why? Unless… something had happened to Shiro?

Now anxious, Keith weaved his way through the parking lot, cursing how many people there always were on Fridays when people went home for the weekend.

"Hey, uh, Adam?" Keith said tentatively, but it came out more a question that a proper greeting.

Adam smiled at him warmly, still leaning against his car. At least he looked too relaxed for something to be wrong with Shiro, so the tension slowly left Keith's shoulders.

"Hello, Keith. Takashi told me you were going to spend the weekend with us?"

"Yeah." Keith nodded, still a bit too stiffly, but Adam didn't comment on it. It was the first time Keith was spending time at Shiro's apartment with Adam there; the only time he'd visited the apartment before, Adam had been out of town. "If that's okay."

"Of course," Adam said. "Takashi is going to be a bit late, though. He had an appointment he forgot about, but I told him I'd pick you up. But my car isn't as cool as his bike I'm afraid."

Keith blinked in surprise before he realized Adam was joking. He offered a small smile in return despite the nervousness that was rising in him at the thought of being alone with Adam. "It's fine. Thanks."

"Great! Let's go, if you're all set?"

Nodding, Keith rounded the car and climbed into the passenger seat. Even though Adam claimed it wasn't as cool as Shiro's bike - which was true, Keith wasn't sure anything could ever beat the hoverbike - it was a really nice car. Keith didn't know too much about cars and his interest in them was pretty much inexistent, but it was probably expensive. Still, somehow it didn't look posh, and Keith thought it really suited Adam.

On the short ride to Adam and Shiro's shared apartment, Adam let Keith connect his phone to the car's audio system and blast his own music. Even more surprisingly, instead of poking fun at Keith's admittedly questionable music taste like Keith half expected, Adam hummed along good-naturedly and winked at Keith when he stared at him in amazement. It made the car ride a lot less awkward than Keith had feared.

Adam let Keith enter first, offering to take his jacket, but Keith shook his head and told him he preferred to keep it on. Adam accepted it without any further questions, unlike some other adults who thought wearing a jacket indoors was rude and a personal attack against themselves for some reason Keith couldn't make sense of.

"Do you want something to drink? I don't have much to offer in terms of soda, sorry. Takashi hates soda with a passion. We've got tea, though, or hot chocolate or coffee… I probably shouldn't give you coffee, should I? I think you're too young for coffee..." Adam mused more to himself than to Keith.

Keith allowed himself a small smile. Shiro really did hate soda; once Keith had met him with a soda can in hand and offered it to Shiro when he said he was thirsty, but Shiro had looked so offended at the mere _thought_ of having to drink the 'diabetes in a can' as he called it. Keith, as someone who lived off junk food for the better part of his life, really didn't understand how Shiro could be so against anything that wasn't super healthy, but there really was no winning once Shiro went off about the importance of a healthy diet. Keith hated to admit it, but his soda consumption had decreased dramatically since he'd met Shiro.

"Hot chocolate is fine."

"Hot chocolate it is," Adam parroted and went to open the fridge. "Feel free to take a seat, on the couch or at the table, anywhere you like."

After considering both options for a few seconds, Keith went over to the living area and sat down on the floor with his back leaning against the couch, and pulled his homework out of his backpack.

Only a few minutes later, Adam joined him in the living room, setting down a steaming mug in front of Keith and settled into a comfortable looking armchair with a tablet and his own mug of what smelled like coffee.

"If you need any help with your homework, now's your chance," he told Keith with a conspiratorial grin.

Keith's class didn't have Adam as his instructor which was a shame because Keith was certain he would have liked class a lot more if it were Adam teaching him instead of the annoying prick he had to call his teacher this year. Still, Adam probably knew the material by heart, so Keith appreciated the offer.

"I've got it, but I'll keep it in mind," he promised. It could prove useful to have someone to ask directly- he could have asked Shiro, too, but Keith was very careful to avoid doing homework when he was with Shiro, much preferring to spend their precious time together doing something fun.

With a hum, Adam turned his attention to his tablet, and Keith went back to his homework. He liked how quiet it was in the apartment, and against his expectations, Adam's presence didn't bother him much, or at least a lot less than being around other people usually bothered him. Adam wasn't Shiro, but if Keith had to compare Adam to either Shiro or Other People, he was definitely closer to Shiro.

During the time it took Keith to finish his homework, Adam periodically refilled his coffee mug until Keith put away his books and eyed him critically.

"Isn't that like, your third mug in the past hour?" he asked with one raised eyebrow, studying Adam's expression that turned sheepish at the question.

"Uh…"

"You're an addict!" Keith accused him. "You're worse than Shiro!"

And he'd thought Shiro's coffee consumption was bad, the only thing that went absolutely against his health nut attitude.

"Aw, come on, I don't think that's true," Adam argued weakly.

"I think it is," Keith told him seriously.

The way Adam took another sip before he spoke again only proved Keith's point, and Keith leaned back with his arms crossed and a smug grin on his face as he watched Adam closely and waited for a reaction.

"Alright, alright, I drink too much coffee. I'm working on it… sometimes," Adam admitted. "So, uh, are you done with your homework?"

Ah. Changing the subject. That was something Keith was good at too, so he saw through Adam's bullshit right away. Still, he decided to let him have that and let the conversation be steered away from Adam's questionable coffee intake.

"Yeah. It wasn't much, I already did most of it yesterday."

"Hm, I see. Well, Takashi should be here shortly, so… how do you feel about video games?"

Keith's face lit up. He knew Shiro had a gaming system, he'd been allowed to play the last time he'd visited, but there had only been one player's account- Shiro's.

"I didn't know you play video games," Keith said sceptically. Hadn't Shiro complained about never having had a gaming partner until Keith showed up?

"We'll see about that," Adam muttered, getting himself another refill of coffee and avoiding Keith's judging glare before he told Keith to set up the game.

* * *

A little out of breath from hurrying home, Shiro opened the door to his and Adam's apartment. His appointment at the doctor's had taken longer than expected; he'd never intended to leave Keith and Adam alone for so long. He knew Keith wasn't great with new people, and despite the fact that if there was one person Shiro trusted to get along with Keith, he still hoped the kid hadn't been too uncomfortable in his absence.

"I'm home," he called as he got rid of his jacket and took off his boots.

"Welcome home," Adam replied from the living room.

Shiro made his way over to the living area, smiling when he heard the telltale sound of a racing game he liked to play. So Adam was letting Keith play video games. That was certainly a good way to earn himself points with Keith.

The unexpected sight when he entered the room made him freeze in his tracks. Keith was on the floor with the tip of his tongue poking out in concentration as he stared intently at the screen. He was currently in first place with the other vehicles far behind him, as expected.

What got him to pull out his phone as quickly as possible, nearly dropping it in his haste to open the camera app, was his fiancé, the man who had sworn to him to never touch a video game again in his _life_ after Shiro had laughed at him for ten minutes straight for his abysmal performance the first - and only - time he had tried to play, was holding a controller awkwardly, watching the screen with at least as much focus as Keith, and his vehicle was going backward in the wrong direction, and Shiro was pretty sure he was watching Keith's screen instead of his own.

Shiro managed to get a few good shots before Keith crossed the finish line first and the race ended soon after.

"Shiro!" Keith said, twisting so he could properly look at Shiro. "Adam is _horrible_ at video games!"

"Hey," Adam protested.

"You know he's right," Shiro pointed out, walking around the couch to greet Adam properly with a kiss and ruffle Keith's hair as he plopped down on the couch. "And yet you got him to play with you. Good job, kiddo, he won't even play with _me_."

"That's because you mocked me!"

"I'm mocking you too," Keith told him solemnly, making both Shiro and Adam laugh.

"I am never playing any game with either of you again," Adam announced. "I'm done."

"Someone's a sore loser," Shiro said. "Anyway, did you two have a good time?"

He expected Adam to reply, but to his surprise, it was Keith who spoke.

"Yeah. I'm done with my homework, too, can we go for a drive on the bike?"

"Sure," Shiro agreed easily, "but let's have dinner first, yeah?"

With a little grumble, Keith relented, and as Adam was the first to get up to start preparing dinner, Keith immediately shot up as well to join him in the kitchen.

Shiro blinked in surprise, but then warmth spread through his chest. The two people he cared about most in the world now that his grandfather was gone, getting along better than he had dared to hope given Keith's extreme - and justified - mistrust when it came to people… he'd never thought it would make him this happy.

With a smile so wide it nearly hurt, he pushed himself off the couch and went to help with dinner as well.

* * *

 **Some headcanons of mine to go with the story**  
 **-Shiro and Adam don't live at the Garrison but close enough to get there quickly if needed**  
 **-they have different schedules so Shiro usually takes his bike whereas Adam goes by car**  
 **-Shiro was raised by his grandpa**  
 **-Keith makes an effort in studying because he doesn't want to disappoint Shiro**  
 **-Adam is hopelessly overworked. His blood is like 70% caffeine**  
 **-the "I'm home" - "Welcome home" thing- yeah, those of you who watch anime are familiar with the concept, and Shiro's Japanese so they totally do this because I just love that exchange so much**  
 **-Keith's taste in music is probably shit**

 **I'm considering writing a short second chapter/sequel for this to deal with the aftermath of the Kerberos mission, but, uh, not making any promises. I still have some more writing to do for the Gen month, and I've been itching to write for my other fandom sooooo... but ya who knows.**

 **Come find me on Twitter as Butterfly_OnIce or on Tumblr as thisfairytalegonebad!**

 **Hope you liked!**


End file.
